Swimming device



Nov. 3, 1931. P. LAMPRECHT 1,829,868

SWIMMING DEVICE original Filed ooi. 24. i929 2 sheets-'sheet 1 @wop/@y Nov. 3, 1931. P. LAMPRECHT SWIMMING DEVICE y fm 2 w WM @WW w 8. .vm o 2 p 4 d .4f/m ,.8 w kw dw M J MM a8 4 O l ma d www@ www 88%. O .,/j /w/fnO m illuetentd Natie-,i931 y h 1,829,868 i 'i UNITED STATES PHILIPP LAMPREGHT, or CHICAGO; ILLINOIS SWIMMING nnvlcn f Appneationfied october 24, 1929, serial NO fioaeiz. Renewed Marchal, 1931. This invention relates to new and useful tion 4J rAt the extremity of the heel portion improvements ink swimming devices and 2 I provide an upstanding arcuate heel guard j w more particularly to a device of this charac- 5 within-which'the rear portionof the heel is ter which is adapted to be applied to the foot adapted to lit. f 'i of the user. n "This heel guard 5 is made of any suitable '55 One of the objects of my invention is vthe type of metal and isfsecured at its lower end provision of la swimming device which can tothe outer' contour of the heel portion2 of be quickly applied tok they foot ofthe user and the body. Suitable strap members `6 vare seig provided withnwjngs or. blades movable'in lCured to opposite sides of thebody l' with the '1 0 one direction for assisting in moving the user Straps on'oneside of the body having buckles to forwardly `as he propels his feet through IT attached to the outer ends thereof while the the Watan 1 straps on theother side of the body are Another obj ect of the invention is theproformed Wit-h openings 'to bevelglged by the Vision yof@ swimming device which is VeX- buclles'gfwheeby the Straps may beeXtended 'f .y tremely Simple in Construction' and imudes across the instep' andy across the toe portion-of 63 a VCentral Stationary part havingV blade 'or a foot *tohold the body 1 in position on the wingjmembers hinged tothe central part Afor bottom of the foot. swinging,movementA in one directionwhereiArranged upon oppositesides of the body by they may be utilizedfor propelling a per l are the movable blades 8 vand 9, each blade son through the water as they will offer very having its inner edge shaped to conform Ato little resistance while being drawn through the contour of the opposite side edges of the the water in one direction, but will offer rebody l while the entire outer edges of both 315mm@ t0 the Water when propelled in an blades are so'shaped that when theyare in 1 opposite direction. Y f Y horizontal 4alignment with the body they A further object of the'invention is the form a'rectagularfshapeas shown'in Figures t `l v provision of a swimming device having fleX- l and 2. f l

ibleattaching members secured to the sta- The blades 8 andl 9 aswillbe'note'd are vtionary central part Awhereby the device can madecomparativelythin-with regard to the be quickly and easily attached to the foot of s thickness of the body l, but of-lightand dur- 39 a user or removed therefrom. p 1 able material soy that they will readily move S0 lVith the above and other objects in view through; the water. The bottom ofthe body the invention consists in the novel afeatures of l is formed with apposed U-shaped channels f'construction, the combination and arrange-` orfgrooves lOarranged inapposed relation as Vmentv of parts hereinafter more fully set shownin F igure2 with their ends opening at .55 forth, pointed out inthe claim andshown in opposite sides cfl the bodyfl, with one end on 'Si' the accompanying drawings, in whichy v each side'opei'iingat the toe portion and the Figure 1 is a top plan view of a swimming other endopening out'at the heel portion. device'constructedin accordance withmy in- Movablymounted in the grooves 10 are the o vention. Ushaped rods ll the longitudinal portions of Figure 2 is a bottom plan view. f whicharerotatablymounted in suitable bear- 90 Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line ing blocks f12`adjacent each end yof the inter- 3-3 yof Figure 2. y mediate portion 'of each rod. These bearing Figure t'is a sectional view on the line 4 4 blocks are bolted to the underside of the body f of-'Figure 2, and K l and arrangedv transversely thereof kso as to d Figure 5 is aside elevation showing the apspan both longitudinal portions of the 95 plication of the device grooves and formbearings for the longitu- In carrying out my invention I provide a dinal portions of each of the rods. Y central body l which is shaped to conform The ends of the rods are substantially flatsomewhat to the shape of a foot with a heel tened and project onto the lower faces of the J portion 2,4 an instepportion 3 and atoe porblades Sand 9 so that .the extremities of the '100 f p 2,V f' f 1 'Y y 1,829,868"

' rods are extended tothe outermost edge of the blades and `these ends are ,securedl to the j blades in any suitable mannen." Ity willbe apparent that in using'this def vice it is first strapped'on-to the feet of the user as Ashown in Figure 5r and as the feet are pulled through the'water in swimming the blades Sand 9 will move rearwardly behind the body'tothe'dotted'line position as 'shown ,Y in Figure 3. However when the VV feet are pushed away from thev body the bladesfwill f immediately move to arhorizontal position 'V with respect to the body -1 and offer considerable resistance to the Water which will have 15V a tendency to movethe body of the luser forwardly. f Y Y y Itvvill be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided fa simple andv inexpensive swimming device which can be quickly and I easily applied to the foot of the user and as the user propels his `vfeet forward and back- Ward the blades 8 and 9'will move relative the body l. to assist the-'user in propelling his bodyforwardly through the lwater as they will offer lvery -little resistance when being pulled forwardly through the water but will oiier considerable resistance when the. body is pushed back by the user. While I have shown and described the` pre- Y `ferred embodimentof my invention it'will be apparent that various changes and alteral tions maybe carried out without departing from the spirit ofthe invention or the scope of theV appended claim. Iclaiin:

Adevioe ofthe class described including a body Vportion of ashape to `conform to the shape ofA a personsfoot, meansfor securing the body to the foot of a person, blade mem- V 40 bers at oppositesides of the body, said body Vhaving U-shaped grooves arranged inl op-V posed relation with their ends opening at op-Y Y posite sides of thebody with one end on each side opening at the toe portion and the other l end opening out at the heel portion, bearing blocks spanning the intermediate portion of the grooves at the `,ends thereof, U-shapedv hinge members arranged in said grooves and rotatably mounted in said blocks, and the eX- l tremetiesof said hingemembers projecting beyond. the edges of the body andseeured to the blade members whereby the bladeV members are `mounted for movement ylaterally in l Aone direction Vwith respectv to thebody.v j ln witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand vthislOth day of September, A. D. 1929. PHILIPlD LAMPRECHT.v y 

